Monday morning always seemed the same of them getting off the bus to witness Wolfgang and his cronies harassing others. To say the gang grew more bored of this than fearful now seemed more comical. Even Eugene wasn't at all caring even when they called him a, 'Nancy Boy' to his face. Before he would smile and go along like it didn't bother him when deep down it did. Now Eugene just didn't care. He knew what he was and wasn't at all ashamed.
Today they witnessed them Wolfgang going after Ludwig. The poking of the chest while Ludwig stood there as still as a tree. He wasn't bothered by him. Didn't care at all as he continued berating him. Even with Lila taking a chance to come closer in a show of wanting to listen had her biting her lips in anticipation.
Wolfgang didn't care about the red head as she stood there waiting for attention it seemed. He even sniffed out her game as she inched closer to them. Was she hoping for him to pick on her so someone can help her? He had a feeling he was right since she did all this stupid nonsense around, Football Face.
"Well come on. Aren't you gonna do something about it?" Wolfgang chastised him. "Come on you big baby."
Ludwig did a slight bow to him before he turned away from him. He was bored of this from him. He sensed that within Wolfgang that he was someone not willing to learn value. He didn't care if he wanted to punch him since he won't lower himself in that way. He wanted to pursue a life of meaning.
When he got into first period, Ludwig smiled up at Helga as she came in. He sensed many things of value within her just like her friends. More in her, Phoebe, Gerald, and Arnold. Maybe because of the strong tangible link they all shared.
"I love your hair." He complimented her after she sat down. "Present to yourself?"
Helga smiled. "You could say. My boyfriend hopes it doesn't fade when he finally arrives, but I'm certain it will."
"You are beautiful so if it does it will be the same." Ludwig spotted the skeptical look in her face. "You have a beautiful soul that sings. I can hear it. I'm glad I can see things much more clearer now."
Seeing Lila prance up the aisle towards Ludwig, Helga rolled her eyes at her show she was putting on for his benefit. "Good Morning, Ludwig. I was ever so impressed what you did this morning with Wolfgang. I was hoping that you and I can go to the movies one day. They are playing the new Enchanted Bunnies."
Ludwig studied her as an immediate thought of one proverb sprung to mind about her. Proverb 28:13. "He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion." He noticed how Helga got his meaning immediately while Lila was just confused.
"What?"
"It means I'm not interested, but thank you for asking. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm speaking to my good friend right here before you interrupted." Ludwig told her politely as possible.
Pursing her lips, Lila turned away to leave leaving Helga smirking away. "Guess you want a girl of substance."
"I do. It seems to be hard to come by nowadays or the girl is already taken." Touching the edge of his book, Ludwig smiled. "One day it will happen."
"One day." She repeated.
Miriam hid these photo albums away not too long after Bob started to trash any picture with Helga in them. In her desperation, Miriam hid the others away in hopes of one day wanting to see images of their youngest, but what she was seeing was frame after frame of unhappy images of Helga off to the side. A tear slid down her cheeks as guilt overwhelmed her.
"My poor baby." Her fingertips traced her unhappy face before she spotted a camera. With an idea in mind, Miriam grabbed it.
Helga rolled her eyes at Phil as he spoke about his old friend. There were so many tall tales that fell out of this old man's mouth that it often became a game of Clue to see which was the truth, and what was a lie. She knew a long time ago she always called it a bunch of, 'Hooey,' but felt it was better just to listen to him speak.
"So you both were junior spies eh?" Helga could smell a rat there. "Why did they enlist you both anyhow?" Though it was always best to let him spin his yarn. It would fill in the boredom.
Phil grinned at the girl. "Why yes! They enlisted us saying we both seemed to have some special skills. What skills they saw off hand, I don't know. It still was fantastic to be able to go in and out because we were children. No one suspected the innocent after all."
At least she was fortunate that her back was turned to him making it easy for her to roll her eyes at him. "So who was the best at it?"
"Me of course! That Jimmy Kafka couldn't walk a straight line if he tried." Phil bolstered. "If it wasn't for me, most of our jobs would of failed."
Stepping into the kitchen, Arnold rolled his eyes. "Grandpa! Are you telling her that you were once spies?"
"I tell you I was a spy. If Jimmy was here he would tell you the same." Phil argued. "If it wasn't for us those commies would of taken over this great country of ours."
Shaking his head at him, Arnold walked over to see if Helga needed any help with dinner. "I believe you served our nation in the military, but as for you being junior spies it is pretty far fetched."
Standing up Phil grabbed his mug. "I'll have you know that it is true. It isn't my fault you don't believe me. I've told you plenty of true stories."
"All right, Grandpa. I'll give you that." Arnold knew it was always best to relent just not to upset him. "Now let me help her out."
Phil winked at him. "Are you gonna help her out or are you gonna help her out?" He asked while putting emphasis on the repeated part of his question. By the way he saw how his grandson's eyes went wide he couldn't but cackle at his expense. "Alright you whipper snappers. I should get going to see what Pookie is up to." Whenever he doesn't hear from his wife for more than ten minutes it was always best to see what she was up to lately.
Making sure he was gone, Arnold turned to Helga who was hunched over the counter stifling her laughter behind her hands. "Seriously?"
"Sometimes you act like you are his dad."
"Well I can't help it. He tells you the wildest things. I mean how many times have Gerald and I done things to follow these stories is crazy." Picking up the cauliflower to cut and clean, Arnold noticed her passive face.
"You know no one else told you TO chase after those wild tales, did they?" Helga pointed out. "You did that on your own accord."
"Well you were there too with the haunted train."
Scoffing at that one, Helga turned her attention back to the steaks. "Yeah well that was my regret."
"You had fun didn't you?"
"Pfft. Not even a little." Helga soon changed her mind. "Though throwing Brainy off the train helped."
Arnold could never figure that guy out most days. Quiet and always following Helga around. He could understand if he had a crush on her seeing how special she is, but Brainy was a puzzle piece as well. "I never could understand him."
Helga glanced briefly out the window in thought. "Some things you aren't supposed to figure out."
He studied her as he found himself finding things clicking into place. "Was he there too when your sister was -" He couldn't finish the sentence at all.
"Yes." Her voice was soft. "I never asked if he relives that day fearing that if he didn't that he will." She shook her head. "I can't do that to the guy."
Arnold's expression softened even more if that were possible. "But what if he does?"
Helga closed her eyes as her head tilted forward. "Than I hope he is receiving help for it." She would feel like hell if she brought this up to someone who didn't think that way at all. She couldn't open that door.
Arnold understood completely why she couldn't as his hand went to her shoulder. Even he couldn't do that to Brainy. He knew that Helga was feeling it worse since she was her sister, but Brainy would too since witnessing something that horrific would even haunt him. Relative or not.
Brainy slumped back into his empty house wishing he could of watched Helga from a distance. Any time he caught the barest of anything from her, Brainy felt blessed. To him, perfection was her. She was always so misunderstood to others while he always knew the truth. He saw her heart before even Phoebe became her best friend. He caught her first poem before anyone else. Caught the sound of her singing voice. They way she would dance. Brainy always felt an undying pleasure of seeing so much from her. He never needed to see her unclothed to know she is perfect. In fact he didn't need to see that all. She didn't belong to him. She never did.
She belonged to Arnold even if she was with this boyfriend in Japan. A boyfriend that has captured the girls in the groups imaginations. Who could possibly be responsible of grabbing Helga G. Pataki's attention and keep it? That was their question. Phoebe of course knew the answer and obviously he did too. Brainy didn't have to meet this person to know by knowing, Phoebe that this person is good.
A scream was heard in his head. It belonged to a certain female. A legend in too many schools and in town.
He remembered the crunching of metal and concrete. The instant remembrance of all that blood. That was haunting in itself, but what was more haunting was Helga's frozen expression before the scream.
Helga's scream always constantly went through his sleep more than her sister's. That frozen expression of hers killed his heart. Even through her self loathing of her own older sister, Brainy knew she loved her.
His body collapsed face first onto his bed. He groaned in his thoughts finding it harder and harder to keep doing this. He couldn't admit to her what he was always thinking feeling she would be suffering from guilt. He wanted her to heal. He wanted her to keep feeling that love he knew she was receiving at her current residence.
"Brainy! I'm home!" His mother called out before the slamming of the door.
They don't even know about what he witnessed. Brainy felt it eating inside of him as he heard her pumps sounding off against the hardwood floor to his room. He couldn't keep this up even though it was so hard to talk.
"Brainy, honey, are you all right?" Her voice was so concerned as he felt her sitting down on his bed. "You know you shouldn't be on your stomach."
Rolling on his back, Brainy sat up to hug her. "Uh. Yeah." Pulling back his mom's face was etched in worry. "Can I talk to you about something?"
She smiled at her son as her hand went to his face. "Need your inhaler so you can?" He nodded to her question where she reached over to get it for him.
Breathing the medicine in, Brainy waited before he can speak. His eyes opened while he kept his inhaler on hand. Opening his mouth he spoke about that day finding it a bit of ease off him as he talked to her. When he finished he felt her arms around him. Brainy knew it was time to talk.
Sometimes it was virtually hard to be respectful around a girl like Helga. There were times he viewed her that he wanted something more to happen. Something that him wishing that her tank top would fall apart in front of his eyes. Kyoyo felt so perverted in his thoughts as he listened to his girlfriend speaking. He felt mesmerized by those lips in how they moved. He already knew how they felt against his own lips, but he felt his fantasies reaching a climax when he imagined those lips all over his body. He felt ashamed by it, but at the same time not. He loves her completely and wanted to share everything of himself too.
"What's going on? You seem distracted." Helga spoke to him Japanese. It was obviously to deter anyone from listening in.
"I am. I am also listening to you, but my thoughts are wandering." Kyoyo hoped she wouldn't ask.
Helga had a clue, but still inquired. "You can tell me what you are thinking about. I swear I won't get mad."
He considered her words and as his own family taught him to be respectful of women, Kyoyo hoped that his thoughts didn't sound like it if he verbalized it. "I was imagining you, well, naked." He said in a semi halting way.
Her eyebrows shot up as she looked down at her own chest. "There isn't much here. That much I promise you."
Bashfulness quickly turned into something a little scathing when she was about to say more bad things about herself. "Seriously? You have sweet little curves that I remember quite well. To me you are perfect."
"Still I don't know." A knocking was heard on her door. "I'll be right back." Smiling at him, Helga went to answer the door.
Kyoyo heard Arnold's voice telling her about the water about to be turned off for a couple hours in the boarding house. Hearing him ask if she needed to use the shower Helga quickly replied before running over to the computer.
"Do you mind if I call you back? Just in case they can't get the water back on I want to be clean for tomorrow." Helga smiled at him.
"Go ahead." Kyoyo smiled at her before that side of the screen went to black. Leaning in his chair he almost hated himself for confessing that.
When Helga finally came back he could tell she did some thinking while she was in the shower. She was very quiet as she sat there in front of the screen. Kyoyo did a sample wave to her to see if she was still there and by the small smile ghosting on her face, she was.
"I'm sorry that I made you uncomfortable." He told her sincerely.
"I'm not. I was expecting this sooner or later with you." Helga did understand. "You aren't desiring for me to get naked right now, are you?"
Kyoyo felt his perversion sneak back up as he imagined her naked right now. "A little, but I completely understand."
Her eyes went to the side before refocusing back on him. "In a way I do, but at the same time I don't."
He thrilled privately at her thinking that. "That's perfectly fine, Helga. Do what you wish. I just want you happy always."
"I appreciate that." Could she erase the memory of what she did with Arnold on New Years Eve? Helga blushed at the thought of Arnold's naked form. As she thought about this she was unaware of her robe separating more as she shifted.
Kyoyo noticed how the front of her robe was revealing more by the second. Was she granting him permission by this show? Studying her face he saw that she had no idea this was happening. "Sweet. Your robe is about to show me something beautiful."
Glancing down, Helga wrapped her arms around her chest. "Oh yeah! I was imagining you in that way too. Heh heh." She felt so bad for lying to him. She was reliving her night with Arnold. Perhaps this could erase that night so she can concentrate on her boyfriend even more fully.
Removing his shirt to help her be more comfortable, Kyoyo loved how her cheeks lessened into a more of a pinker shade. "Just trying to ease your mind."
Helga watched as he stood up to undo his jeans. Her eyes widened at what he was doing as he just removed his jeans alone, but not his boxers. "Expecting me to follow suit?"
"I'm expecting you to be comfortable around me. I'm not forcing you into something you don't want to do."
She thought about it before shaking her head. "Not yet and especially not online." She wanted to at least touch him. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be and that's fine." Kyoyo leaned forward. "Uncross those arms. If you are uncovered than quickly tie up your robe."
Slowly she did that. Making sure it was secure she smirked when she extended her leg out to the side. "How about this?"
He loved those legs. Dancers legs. "Perfect." He breathed out in anticipation of going over there.
After ten more minutes of being online, Helga had to call it a night. Kyoyo stood up to wander over to his bed to lay down. Removing his boxers he began to pleasure himself with thoughts of nothing but his girlfriend.
Curled up on her side, Helga really wanted to erase those memories of that night together with Arnold. She really did, but doing that sort of thing online was not a good idea. She might have to wait till he finally arrives here to wonder about that step in their relationship.